The man, wearing a black suit and carrying a briefcase in his hand and a coat over his arm, was filmed at Tottenham Court Road Station.

He is seen trying to widen his stride to get onto the next steps of the escalator, but failing.

Passers-by try to stop the man but he ignores them and continues trying to head down the up escalator.

One red-headed woman in particular tried a number of times to help, telling the businessman he could get hurt and even going so far as to try to physically pull him away, but she failed.

The incident was caught on camera by Sam Napper, 27, from London.

He said: “At first I thought he was playing silly buggers with a few of his FX Trader mates but when we saw his dogged stagger and realised he was alone, I knew we were about to witness something truly brilliant.

“One by one, concerned commuters tried to steer him in the right direction, to no avail.

“After pausing for a few seconds, he turned around and walked out, as if nothing ever happened, saying nothing.”

The man was eventually helped by a commuter who pushed the emergency stop button and pointed him in the right direction.

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